Antivirus is software that increases the security of computers and is always active. We have been using them on computers for a long time and various companies are working in this field, but how does antivirus work?
Most users have an antivirus on their system and use it to scan for viruses. However, they do not know exactly how this software works and do not know how it works. For this reason, we want to explain how these software work. Stay with Wironal until the end .
Where do viruses usually hide?
Viruses can be located in a variety of places, from documents to files located in various parts of the system. They can even be hidden in important system files and folders or even the computer BIOS. Even the boot hard drive is not safe from viruses, and viruses can access it when the system boots.
Viruses use different methods to attack your computer. For example, some of them play the role of important system files, and some lock your system without any warning. Some viruses spread as far as possible in the system before they can be detected.
These different methods have made users think of using antivirus and of course different companies in this field. Therefore, choosing the right virus scanner is very important to stay safe while browsing the Internet.
How does an antivirus scan your computer?
Before an antivirus program starts scanning your system, it needs to know what to look for. Each scanner has a vast library of known viruses that grows in number over time. In fact, as time goes on, the size of this library increases.
An antivirus must have a large library and be constantly updated to cover the latest viruses in order to protect its users. That’s why you need to update this scanner, because if its library is not updated, it can not do much.
In the early years of the Internet, these programs were monetary. Although we are still dealing with paid software, there are many free antivirus programs on the market, some of which even have the same functionality as paid models.
When you ask an antivirus to scan your system, it looks for suspicious code in the files. When an antivirus scans a file, it analyzes the file code and compares it to its vast library. If the code of this file matches the virus code in the library, it will be considered as an infected file.
The difference between fast scan and full scan
Most antivirus programs allow you to choose between a quick scan and a full scan, or Quick Scan and Full Scan. Of course, their names may vary depending on the antivirus, but their function is the same.
As you can guess, fast scanning is done in a short time and aims to check for infected files. Unfortunately, while this type of scan is easier for users and takes less time, it is not very efficient and does not scan all viruses accurately.
In contrast, a full scan, as its name implies, scans all computer files for comparison to its library to determine if they are infected. Although a full scan takes more time than you do, it scans for possible viruses in all the necessary files and is more secure.
How does antivirus deal with infected files?
When the software detects a file as an infected file, it does one of the following:
1. Remove the virus
If the program detects a virus in a file and can delete the virus file without harming itself, it will disinfect it. In this case, the virus is removed from the file and the file shows a function similar to its original state.
2. Quarantine
In order for programs to run normally on your system, they must communicate with different files, which can lead to further spread of the virus. But if an infected file is quarantined and isolated, it will be moved to a safe place so that the computer can no longer access it. In fact, this file is detached from other parts of the operating system so as not to cause further damage to your system.
3. Delete file
The last resort to remove the virus is to delete the infected file. Of course, none of us want to lose a file, but sometimes such an approach is necessary to prevent the virus from further damaging the system. Some viruses cannot be deleted without damaging the file or being removed from other parts of the system, so the antivirus itself will delete the file.
There are different antivirus products on the market, each carrying different brands and different volumes. Some of them have a big negative effect on the performance of your system and slow it down, while others are lighter.
Now that you know how antivirus works, you may be wondering how a firewall works and how it differs from an antivirus. To answer these questions, we suggest you read this Wironal article .
